Shipping To Military Base (APO, FPO) & DPO Addresses EXPLAINED

Shipping to military base address may seem complicated at first glance. But don’t worry, we are here to help you with that! Whether you need to send a care package to your man, wife, or friend. Or you are currently based at the US base, for example at Guam, and you are looking for solutions on how to get shipping to a military base from US stores like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc. We are going to explain all questions you may have including the price of the shipping, how does it work, and much more.

Table of Contents

What Do APO, FPO, and DPO Abbreviations Mean?
· How Do The Military And Diplomatic Addresses Look Like?
How Does The Shipping to A Military Base Work?
· Shipping With The USPS Directly
· Shipping With Planet Express Package Forwarding Service
What Is The Price Of The Shipping To Military Base Address?
Military Base FAQ
Conclusion


What Do APO, FPO, and DPO Abbreviations Mean?

APO, FPO, and DPO are abbreviations for different kinds of military or diplomatic addresses (source).

  • APO – Army Post Office is used in conjunction with Army or Air Force installations.
  • FPO – Fleet Post Office is used in conjunction with Navy installations.
  • DPO – Diplomatic Post Office is used for the U.S. Diplomatic locations.

How Do The Military And Diplomatic Addresses Look Like?

The APO, FPO, and DPO addresses are very similar and they differ very little.

John Doe
PSC 559 BOX 1234
APO AP, 96377-0054

John Doe
USCGC Hamilton
FPO AP, 96667

John Doe
Unit 8100, Box 1234
DPO AP, 96377-0054

Planet Express can ship to these addresses without any problem. Below, we explain the shipping with a package forwarder more in detail.

How Does The Shipping to A Military Base Work?

Shipping to APO/FPO/DPO addresses is possible with the USPS only. There are 2 main approaches you can take. You can either ship with the USPS directly, or use a package forwarder like Planet Express. We explain the pros and cons of both ways below.

Shipping With The USPS Directly

Pros:
If you want to send a care package, it is easier to go to your nearest post office and ship the package from there.
Cons:
Shopping from the US online stores may be time-consuming. You have to order goods to your house address. After that, somebody has to go to the post office and send the package to the APO/FPO/DPO address.

Shipping to a military base

You can read more about APO/FPO/DPO shipping directly with USPS on their website.

Shipping With Planet Express Package Forwarding Service

Pros:
You can order from the online stores to our address and then forward packages to APO/FPO/DPO addresses.
Cons:
The delivery time from the USA to APO/FPO/DPO address may be slightly longer due to a need to deliver the package to our warehouse.

If you decide to ship with Planet Express, make sure you check the following pictures in order to set up your delivery address correctly.

APO Address Planet Express Example
APO Address Planet Express Example (click to enlarge)
FPO Address Planet Express Example
FPO Address Planet Express Example (click to enlarge)
DPO Address Planet Express Example
DPO Address Planet Express Example (click to enlarge)

What Is The Price Of The Shipping To Military Base Address?

Before we can dive into the price of the shipping, it is important to know what to fill into our postage calculator because if you want to ship to an FPO address, for example, you use the following details in the individual fields.

Country: United States
State: California
City: FPO
Zip Code: 96377-0054

shipping to FPO address
How to fill in the FPO address details in Planet Express postage calculator?

In the table below, we calculated the prices of the shipping for 3 different sizes and weights of the packages.

Shipping withShipping method10×7×5 inches, 2 lbs20×13×8 inches, 7 lbs35×20×12 inches, 25 lbs
Planet ExpressDomestic: USPS Priority$10.6$45.94$105.94
USPS directlyPriority Mail Express Military$35.55$86.15$260.10
USPS directlyPriority Mail Military$13.65$49.65$114.85
The prices have been calculated on the 16th of July, 2020 using Planet Express and USPS postage calculator tools.

Feel free to calculate the price of the shipping for your package and your APO/FPO/DPO address with our postage calculator below.

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Military Base FAQ

What Is The Price Of The Shipping To Military Base Address?

The price of the shipping to military or diplomatic addresses is very similar to domestic shipping. With Planet Express, you can get slightly better rates than with the USPS directly. However, it has a few downsides too. Read more…

How To Ship to A Military Base Works?

You can either ship to military bases directly with the USPS or a package forwarder like Planet Express.
If you are a military member based at a US base and you want to shop in the US online stores, it is better for you to use a package forwarder. Here is how…

What Do APO, FPO, and DPO Abbreviations Mean?

APO – Army Post Office is used in conjunction with Army or Air Force installations.
FPO – Fleet Post Office is used in conjunction with Navy installations.
DPO – Diplomatic Post Office is used for the U.S. Diplomatic locations.
Read more…


Conclusion

We have explained to you what the APO/FPO/DPO abbreviations mean and where they are used. We also described how does the shipping to military and diplomatic addresses works and if it is better to ship there directly with the USPS or with a package forwarder like Planet Express. In the end, we did a price comparison of USPS and Planet Express shipping rates to the FPO military address.